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Oct102020 by James LongmanNo Comments

What Are Planar Magnetic Headphones & How Do They Work?

If you have a pair of full-size headphones, the chances are quite big that they have standard dynamic drivers as this is the traditional and very popular technology that has been used for ages now. One of the reasons these headphones are so popular is that they are easy and inexpensive to make. Inside their cups, you can find a voice coil with a cone-shaped diaphragm and a magnet behind them. We can’t say these aren’t great but their main problem is inconsistent sound production across different frequencies, which makes the sound they deliver not completely accurate. Also, being cheaply made, the parts inside the cups are glued together and the glue wears off over time and the headphones begin to fall apart. Along with the hardware, the sound also gets worse. On the bright side,

Oct122020 by James LongmanNo Comments

IPX8 Waterproof Rating Explained

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Whenever looking for waterproof or water-resistant equipment, whether it's audio equipment (headphones, speakers) or any kind of electrical/electronic equipment, the most important thing to look for and the thing that can actually tell you the level of water resistance is the IPX rating. In our previous articles, we dealt with IPX ratings in general as well as IPX4 (splash-proof) and IPX7 (waterproof). Today we’re going to discuss the meaning and importance of an IPX8 waterproof rating. IP/IPX Ratings – The Basics IP stands for Ingress Protection (also referred to as International Protection). It is an internationally standardized rating that describes the level of protection against the ingress of solid particles, dust, and water. An IP rating has a general form that you can see

Oct12020 by James LongmanNo Comments

The Difference Between Active and Passive PA Speakers

Blog, Comparisons

Speakers are widely popular audio devices and they are produced in many versions, shapes, and colors. They can be big or small, wired or wireless, you can buy a single speaker or a speaker system. They can be found anywhere and everyone wants them. We may think we know everything about them but there is actually one less known type that we don’t write about so often. These are PA speakers and in this article, we will try to present them to you in the best possible way, list their positive and negative characteristics and give you a short buying guide that should help you decide which PA speaker set is best for you. What Are PA Speakers and Why Do We Need Them? Before we even start, let’s find out what PA stands for. It actually means “public address” and these systems are made in orde

Sep222020 by James LongmanNo Comments

Dynamic Drivers vs Balanced Armature Drivers

Blog, Comparisons

The main reason why we decided to write about dynamic and balanced armature drivers is to make people aware of small units hidden inside pretty earbud and headphone enclosures. We have noticed that more and more people make their choices based on a device’s design. Of course, we don’t want to insinuate that those buyers don’t pay any attention to the device’s specs but if they aren’t really familiar with all those abbreviations, numbers and units of measure, they are definitely more comfortable to make their decisions based on the looks and price tags. Headphones and speakers, as well as all the audio equipment and hearing aids, consist of many small parts that work together to deliver the best possible sound and satisfy their users’ needs. We don’t want to say that the performance

Sep132020 by James LongmanNo Comments

Sound Signatures – The Beginner’s Guide

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What are Sound Signatures? Whenever buying an audio device, we are not only hoping that it will last long but also that it will sound just the way we like it. No matter if we are buying headphones or speakers, if they are expensive or cheap, our hopes remain the same. We are constantly buying new devices different from the previous ones trying to find the one that will suit our needs and taste perfectly. Unfortunately, there’s one “small” problem – we don’t always know what we are searching for and this makes our search even more difficult. The perfect sound that we are trying to find is actually a specific sound signature and every pair of headphones and every speaker have their own. Whether we are going to like it or not depends on our subjective feeling. The headphones and speakers

Sep42020 by James LongmanNo Comments

How to Build a Speaker Box

Blog, How to

Speakers are one of the most popular audio devices, probably right after headphones. They come in all shapes and sizes and all of them have their own place in our cars, in our homes, offices, etc. Each of them has its own purpose and depending on that purpose, it has a specific build and size. You might think that the market offers anything you could possibly need but it wouldn’t be surprising if you couldn’t find the speaker you are looking for, especially if you’re looking for the speaker for your car. One of the simplest but the least applicable solutions for this problem is to take some basic material, some basic tools, a woofer or two, and build a speaker on your own. If you think about it, this may be great not only because the speaker box dimensions will fit perfectly your car, l

Sep42020 by James Longman9 Comments

Bluetooth Multipoint Pairing Explained

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Bluetooth technology has been present for so many years and it has become an integral part of our lives. We are constantly using it without even thinking about the way it works or how much it makes our lives easier. The youngest generations were born after the introduction of Bluetooth and this is the reason why they think of it as of something completely natural. Bluetooth is a very interesting technology and it hasn’t stopped developing during all these years and decades, so let’s say a few words about its working principle. Bluetooth technology can be described as one of the technologies enabling wireless communication within a relatively short range, as the connection remains stable within the 30-40 feet range on average. Bluetooth technology development enabled us to establish wire

Oct12020 by James LongmanNo Comments

How to Set Up Wireless Speakers for the Best Sound

Blog, How to

Wireless speakers are one of the best achievements of modern technology and they have become quite popular in recent years. We are constantly trying to make our lives easier by buying devices that are more practical and easy to handle. We use them all the time, at home, at work, even on vacation. One of the most popular representatives of this group of devices are wireless and Bluetooth devices. The most popular products are probably Bluetooth headphones and earbuds but we can’t really say that wireless and Bluetooth speakers are less popular than the headphones. There are many reasons for their popularity. They don’t have those annoying wires that can make a real mess in any room no matter how big it is, you can move them easily from one room to another or use them even in front of you

Sep12020 by James LongmanNo Comments

Understanding Surround Sound Formats

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Audio equipment has an important place in our lives. This can be easily proven if you look at the offer at a local audio store and the fact that every one of us has at least one speaker at home, at work, in a car, etc. Basically, we are no longer satisfied by playing the music directly from our phones or players but we connect them to different kinds of wired or wireless speakers because they offer better performance. This rule can also be applied to TVs. We all know that regular TV speakers, even the most expensive ones, aren’t as good as average home speakers, especially soundbars or home theater speaker systems. This is the most important reason why people decide to spend their money on expensive audio systems, especially if they are moving to a bigger apartment or house and their sm

Aug192020 by James LongmanNo Comments

Bass Frequency Response on Headphones Explained

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Knowing a few basic things about headphone frequency response can be very helpful when searching for a new pair of headphones. The ability to read and understand the frequency response and especially the frequency response curve/graph could make your search a lot easier and quicker. Depending on the music genres you prefer and on your personal taste, you will be looking for a different type of a frequency response curve. If you are into bass-heavy music, you will be paying more attention to the bass frequency response and depending on your personal preferences, you will be looking for more accurate, more emphasized, or warmer bass. This article will be centered around bass frequency response and the impact of different bass frequencies on the headphone sound signature. If you keep ...